8. What is the effect of the anaphora on page 35, in Winston’s explanation of doublethink?…
Those governments had come into being not so long before and they weren’t very well understood yet. What Orwell was trying to do with 1984, was to give his reader a clear picture of what it would be like for a free country, like England, to be under a totalitarian rule. 1984 is set in London; the London in the book however is a dreary place. There is never enough to eat, the food is disgusting, there aren’t enough shoes or clothes to go around and the city is pretty dilapidated. There is some sort of war going on but nobody really knows what it’s about. Rockets frequently explode in the streets that blow people to bits. The worst part is that the government is always watching everything people do. There are big posters that show Big Brother, who is supposedly the leader of the government, that say “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”. There are thought police, which have microphones and cameras literally everywhere. The government can watch you in your home trough your TV screen and your not allowed to turn your TV off, ever. There are a lot of things you are not allowed to do in this society and if you do them the…
Imagine living in a world where politics are everything and all forms of individuality and personal identities are shattered. A world where everybody is stripped of their rights to talk, act, think, or even form their own opinions, simply because they do not agree with the government’s beliefs. These aspects are just a few of the examples of things dictators would have control over in a totalitarianism form of government. Aggressive leaders such as Hitler and Joseph Stalin are examples of such dictators. They used their power for terror and murder, and their motive is simply to maximize their own personal power. George Orwell had witnessed World War II, the fall of Hitler and Stalin’s dictatorships, and the fatal outcomes that have come from these governments. To warn future generations of the harsh effects of totalitarianism governments, he wrote the book Nineteen Eighty-Four. Published in 1946, Nineteen Eighty-Four describes life in a totalitarianism form of government, following the main character, Winston Smith, as he takes risks in discovering how he believes life should truly be. Literary critic Irving Howe states, “Were it possible, in the world of 1984, to show human character in anything resembling genuine freedom...it would not be the world of 1984” (62). In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the government uses its power to suppress individuality among the people.…
Like most minorities, the proles are the largest part of the population and thus the only way for change to occur in society. The proles, which are all non-party members, make up 85% of the population. They are forced to rely on the party for food and other basic necessities which makes them useless. However Winston believes that “If there is hope, it must lie in the proles” (Orwell 69). Winston believes if the proles could only realize their numbers, they could easily overthrow the party and bring it crumbling down.…
1) The main issue is that there is a new Facebook feature that allows others to share someone’s…
Through the use of Orwell’s and Lang’s intertextual connections of political reform and shared perspectives of dystopic societies it becomes apparent that the quote “The object of power is power” is strongly supported throughout the two texts. The meaning of this quote is also made abundantly clear within the texts as the dictatorship rulers within both texts acquire power simply to have power and authority, instead of for the good of the people. This features predominantly in both texts through their shared perspectives on dystopic settings made apparent by their use of symbolism. In Orwell’s ‘1984’ only 2% of the populace resides in the ‘Inner Party’ whilst the other 98% is suppressed within the lower classes in either the ‘Outer Party’ or the ‘Proles’. This totalitarian, power based society is made dystopic by the overwhelming power and control exhibited by the tyrant dictator ‘Big Brother’. This is emphasised through Orwell’s use of symbolism in O’Brien’s words as he says “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever.” (pg 307) The symbolism between the boot and big brother, and the human face and society emphasises the suppressive nature of this totalitarianism rule, casting the society into dystopia. This also forms a contextual connection to Nazi…
Not only did the governments censor potentially threatening information from the media, they also censored information on world events from the citizens of their nation, too. In the novel, Oceania was constantly at war; however, the enemy is inconsistent. At the beginning, Eurasia is the enemy, and have been the enemy of Oceania for a long period of time; however, the enemy changes to Eastasia later on in the story. It states, “The very word ‘war’ has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist,” (Orwell 199). The Germans were also reminded of their enemy, and just as in Oceania, it fluctuated. The only difference being the enemies of Germany changed between the Jews and the Allied Powers (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).…
In the year of 1949, George Orwell saw a possible future from his reflection of the totalitarian regimes of World War II and experience in Spain as well as Russia, especially with Stalin. This would culminate into the novel known as 1984, in which the Party and their leader – Big Brother – have complete control of the nation known as Oceania, where everyone is under constant surveillance by the Thought Police. The story is set in London which has decayed just as much as the people’s souls and minds, shown as a “negative utopia”.…
A totalitarian government must be simultaneously admired and feared by its citizens in order to maintain absolute control. Oceania’s Inner Party in George Orwell’s 1984 takes extreme measures, such as putting its people through physical and mental torture, to ensure that they will always remain in power. Citizens are robbed of any personal rights and freedoms, bringing about their suffering and the Party’s success. Inequality between the social classes as well as unreasonable punishment for crime keeps the citizens in line and the Party in…
Modern day society has a structure that relies on authority to thrive, without authority it becomes a house of cards, one falls over and the whole thing comes down. Governments need to keep people at bay therefore they create laws and systems that must be followed and if they are not, people face the consequences. People are controlled in a variety of ways, security cameras and traffic control cameras, reminds individuals that they are being watched. Internet Protocol address (IP address) is another way that anyone can use to locate an individual. License plates, a few numbers and letters that can give police an individual’s address and name.…
In the United States, the safety and protection of the American people has always been a primary ideal of the United States government. In the past five years, new technology has emerged that has aided the government in ensuring this ideal. In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, Orwell uses a dystopian society to portray a government which utilizes technology and procedures to make it seem like they are protecting the citizens, but in reality is generating fear to control and have complete power over the people. In modern America, the government has been accused of similar actions and procedures. However, the United States government does not have the same intentions. Given the domestic and international threats present, heightened security like security cameras in schools as well as other public grounds and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are used solely for the protection and preservation of the liberty of the American people.…
Orwell did not change anything about Totalitarianism when interpreting into the novel. He put on worshipping country leaders, strong dislike, and war hysterics. Children are brought up in families to work for the government as spies. They watch their elders both day and night (Voorhes 88). Big Brother is supposed to represent a soft element from a children’s story to society. Yet to the readers, he represents a political monster to add to Orwell’s science fiction novel, with horror elements mixed in. 1984 may have been inspired by the super-weapons of the cold war. The technology used in the cold war made a ‘social demand’. These technological advancements all served for the purpose to spread mass murder or even to at least intimidating sheer elimination. This can be seen throughout the novel, like when Syme disappeared (Deutscher 119-120). “ He lunged out a huge filthy pipe which was already half full of charred tobacco. With the tobacco ration at a hundred grams a week, it was seldom possible to fill a pipe to the top. Winston was smoking a Victory Cigarette which he held carefully horizontal. The new ration will not start until tomorrow and he had only four cigarettes left” (Orwell 58). During World War II, the government rations out good and often lowers the ration size so small due to overpopulation.…
The theme of power is prominent in the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell and throughout this book he develops two different types of power. This is collective power and individual power, which will both be addressed separately. Firstly, the notion of power through the collective is characterised through the totalitarian Party in Airstrip One, Oceania, one of the three super-states. In chapter 3 Part 3, Winston claims that, “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake”, and that power comes from the oppression of sensual experience and basic human instincts and through the manipulation of history. In regards to the oppression of sensual experience and basic human instincts, the novel opens with a characterisation of Winston’s apartment block. It are described as smelling of “boiled cabbages and old rugs”. Through olfactory imagery, the reader is able to understand the conditions of the Outer Party member’s life as being dank and foetid, coupled with the ironic naming of the apartments as ‘victory mansion’ seems to suggest that whilst there is that pretense of both nationalism and grandeur, the reality is different. This says two things, firstly it shows a denial of the living conditions by the Party and secondly it expresses the societal division between the Outer Party and the Inner Party when contrasted with the vibrant living quarters of O'Brien's home in chapter 8 part 3. In this chapter, the visual imagry is overwhelming for both Winston and Julia through the use of synesthesia and accumulation. The effect of such a comparison epitomises the division between the two classes whereas the Inner Party, and the collective institute that makes up the Party has access to richer sensual perception in olfactory, kinesetic and gustatory senses and they can control the senses of the lesser classes. This oppression of basis human senses deprives the human body to which the Party utilises in "keeping the people in a constant state of angst", which unables them to be…
Repression is a very important issue in George Orwell’s novel 1984. The citizens can not follow their natural impulses because of Big Brother and the party fearing that if they did they would be a danger to their power. Overall Orwell was trying to prove that a totalitarian society does not work because there will always be someone that does not fit into the system and that a government can never fully take away a person's natural…
In a totalitarian government, the people are not living in a reality, but rather the inverse, they are living in a reality made for them. 1984 by George Orwell is a story of Winston Smith's struggle against a totalitarian government that controls the ideas and thoughts of its citizens. In the mythical setting of Oceania, the Party is the ruling, and Big Brother is the fictitious leader that controls all the thoughts and actions of human life. The people's rebellious thoughts and actions are most likely suppressed, but that can only go so far for a totalitarian government. In the novel 1984, Oceania is controlled by a totalitarian government, which is similar to the government systems of Nazi Germany and North Korea because they used torture and food shortage.…